


Maybe They're Seeing Something We Don't

by DrEggSandwich



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Multi, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Sort Of, eventual polyamory, there is no polyam yet but there will be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 18:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18783958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrEggSandwich/pseuds/DrEggSandwich
Summary: Nott was Caleb's Best Friend. She was Family, in a sense that he’s not sure what would happen to him if he hurt her. Somewhere along the way, maybe, she became more than that to him.A study on Nott and Caleb's relationship





	Maybe They're Seeing Something We Don't

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written any fanfiction in Literally Actually Not Joking a decade but SOMEHOW this is still a rarepair so I gotta make my own fic if I want to read it.

Caleb loved Nott. Obviously. He had only been travelling with her for a week before he met the others but still. The boundaries they had were not the boundaries he had with others, even back then in that rowdy tavern in Trostenwald so many months ago. He had slept all day, recovering from the fight they’d both barely made it out of the night before, and she had slept beside him, when she’d slept. And it had only been a week, then. Really, there’s something to be said about hard times bringing fast friends. Something to be said about the first person to treat him like a person in living memory, not like a shell, not like a tool. Something to be said about the first person who had stayed. After the prison break, and the run from the guards, after the adrenaline and the thrill of the run had passed, she had asked him about magic, and if he could turn things into other things. He didn’t know then, exactly what she’d meant, what her situation was, but he’d told her _no, not yet, but when I get stronger and learn more, then yes_ , and she’d said _okay, I’ll help you get what you want if you will do that for me_. And she stayed.

Their friendship was fast, incredibly fast, and so much more than he deserved. Even after they joined the ragtag bunch that came to be known as the Mighty Nein, it was always Caleb-and-Nott. Booking rooms? Caleb-and-Nott. Where do Caleb-and-Nott think we should go next? He’d only stayed with the Nein because Nott liked them. Time after time, he’d considered leaving but for the fact that she liked the others’ company, and he wanted her to be happy. And that was a realization unto itself. He ~~was~~ is a selfish man, with selfish desires, who would do anything to get what he ~~wanted~~ wants even if it breaks reality itself, and he would do it without any hesitation. Except, he hesitates, for her. He wasn’t sure how early in their friendship he’d made her happiness and well-being a priority to him, but it had happened. And he loved her. And it was strange to love again after what he had done. It was a little bit like knowing he had a soul, still.

Nott was his Best Friend. She was Family, in a sense that he’s not sure what would happen to him if he hurt her. Somewhere along the way, maybe, she became more than that to him.

It’s only natural.

When you love someone, their physical form does not change but it changes to you. From the day they met in that dark dingy prison cell – Sharp crooked teeth, sharp claws, eyes too-big and glowing, leathery bat-like ears, harsh voice – to today – big bright eyes, nimble careful fingers, teeth still sharp and crooked but on her it was adorable, big floppy ears, a voice that did not so much remind him of homes past, but meant home in and of itself. She didn’t see it that way, though clearly Caleb and Yeza both did.

Yeza. Caleb had known about him for a while now, but it wasn’t until Felderwin that he really understood what Yeza had been to ~~Nott~~ Veth. And well, it’s not like he’d thought he had a chance before – the thought had never crossed his mind, he hadn’t known then that he was in love with her, and besides, she deserved better than him, she deserved every good thing in the world. He was not a good thing. But Yeza was. Yeza had been good to her when no one else had, he’d been the love of her life. She had sacrificed her life for him and for her son. They had a son. And Caleb could see it in his mind’s eye as clear as Nott in front of him, clicking her sharp, dark claws against her flask as she told her story. There was Yeza, a round and radiant halfling, Luke, the little boy they’d seen earlier, and Veth. Dark hair in neat braids where Nott’s fell loose, chubby where Nott was bony, brown eyes where Nott’s were yellow, but somehow still the same. The same quick wit, the same agility, the same humour, the same heart that cared so much even for strangers. Veth and Yeza held hands. She was a little bit taller than him. Luke tugged on the end of her colourful dress. Nott could have this. They just had to rescue Yeza. ~~(And Caleb would have to learn True Polymorph, which he was nowhere near being able to do).~~ Obviously Yeza would love her as a goblin the same as he did as a halfling. She was ~~Nott~~ Veth. She was his wife. Nott liked him so he must be wonderful.

And he was. And Caleb’s heart felt somehow both heavy and light. He’d attributed the heaviness to fear of their situation, standing in a high-security prison in the capital of Xhorhas after accidentally becoming traitors to the empire. He’d not considered that he was afraid of how things would change between them. It’s not that he was jealous or wanted her all to himself or anything like that. It was just – ~~Nott~~ Veth was the most important person in the world to Caleb, but Caleb wasn’t her most important person. But above, far above, the heavy feeling in his chest was the lightness. Yeza was safe. Yeza loved her as she was. Nott could have her happy ending. That was what mattered, in the end, that she was happy. Even if it meant she would leave ~~him~~ them.

It wasn’t until Beau had asked and he’d answered and stuttered and walked away that he realised that actually, yes. He was in love with Nott.

**Author's Note:**

> I intend to write a second chapter where plot happens but I haven't written anything but introspection stuff in a long time so I'm easing myself in. Have fun.


End file.
